


i will find you in a burning sky

by WickedSong



Series: the sorceress and knight [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:17:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17704958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedSong/pseuds/WickedSong
Summary: “C-Cure.”It was only basic White Magic – after all, Merlin had always insisted she focus on offensive spells, at least for the time being – but enough to stem the bleeding. Still, Rinoa knew it would most likely scar.Squall sighed, and raised a reproachful eyebrow at her, in response.“You need to save your strength,” he intoned; ever the protective Knight.“Andyou’realways so ungrateful,” Rinoa teased, and though it felt that perhaps the end of the world had finally come for the both of them, she could see the corners of Squall’s lips turn up into the kind of half-smile she’d come to expect.





	i will find you in a burning sky

**Author's Note:**

> -Two fics published in a week? This is very off-brand for me, I have to say.
> 
> -This is a mash-up of two different versions I've written of this in the past. Now that I've finally managed to post _something_ set in this particular universe, I finally felt confident enough to polish this up, and post it too. It's set pre-KHI, and there is sadness abound but I hope you guys enjoy.

They were running, faster than Rinoa thought she ever had before. The Heartless were hot on their heels, as their darkness threatened to consume this world she’d come to call a home, like so many that had been taken before. At an alarming rate, more and more stars disappeared from the night sky; more worlds' light snuffed out in attack, after attack.

So many people had insisted that the darkness would one day come for her too, and she'd become just as much as a threat as these creatures were. They said it was her birth right, a by-product of powers that she never asked for. Rinoa couldn't help but wonder, when the Heartless' invasion began, that the townspeople might be right about that.

But with Squall's hand in hers, that was now the furthest thing from her mind.

He swung his gunblade in front of the shadows, stunning and sometimes striking down the creatures, as they tore through town. Squall continued to lead, Rinoa sprinting as quickly as she could, towards safety – she always felt so safe when he was close. When she could, she would shot off spells, at a rate that Merlin would probably disapprove of.

But Rinoa knew there was a limit to what she could withstand. She knew too that she wouldn’t be able to cast for much longer. She was using  _Ultima_ ,  _Meteor_ , only the best of her magic. They were all highly-powered spells and ones that she'd only barely mastered. Squall must've sensed it, in the way she began to slow down, as he quickened his pace, all the while shouting something to Yuffie who threw shurikens at their shadowy assailants, while seemingly gliding along the rooftops of Traverse Town.

Rinoa wasn’t sure exactly what Squall had said to the young ninja, and before she could think to ask he had turned on his heel. He guided them down a path they’d already taken; away from the safety of light and into a small alcove, in one of the alleyways, where she would able to rest.

 _No, no, no_ , Rinoa thought, in between the panicked shouting of her spells,  _you'll kill us both._

More than anything, she wouldn’t let him die for her.

“Rest,” Squall said, sitting her down and taking her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head, and took a few deep breaths in, sending furtive looks down the alleyway in case any of the creatures followed them.

For some reason, the assault had seemed to stop – at least for now.

Rinoa gave Squall a look; one that was meant to convey how much she didn’t agree with his plan. In further defiance, she went to stand, but fell back down instead. She straightened her back. “Ow.”

“Rest,” Squall said again, with a sterner expression this time. By this time, he was standing, his trusty gunblade resting on his shoulder, as he nervously paced back and forth. Rinoa sent some simple curative spells his way, under her breath of course, but if he realised he didn't say anything.

She then gave herself the break he had stupidly stopped for.

“I could've held out,” she said to him, and finally he stopped pacing to walk over, and kneel beside her again.

“Can you stand?” he asked, plainly ignoring her statement.

She rolled her eyes in response, and with some effort, but not as much as she had expected, she was on her feet once more.

Squall wrapped a secure arm around her waist.

“I'm fine,” Rinoa insisted, with a grimace. But then she could feel the aftermath of the  _Flare_  and  _Holy_  spells she had used to decimate an entire horde of shadows earlier on, and wooziness washed over her like a tidal wave.

Her knees almost gave way, and she would've fallen again if not for the arm Squall still had around her.

“You're not,” he said, but she could sense him becoming increasingly aware of the threat that now loomed only seconds away from them. There were only so many places to hide in Traverse Town, and the First District; the only safe place in town now seemed further away than it ever had.

Rinoa looked up at him, bringing a hand up to his cheek. Only now has she noticed that he hasn’t escaped the vicious onslaught completely unscathed.

“Squall,” she choked out, in-between gasps, at the horribly bloody gash that’s appeared right between his eyes. “You’re hurt. You’re bleeding.”

“Rinoa, it’s-“

“ _C-Cure_.”

It was only basic White Magic – after all, Merlin had always insisted she focus on offensive spells, at least for the time being – but enough to stem the bleeding. Still, Rinoa knew it would most likely scar.

Squall sighed, and raised a reproachful eyebrow at her, in response.

“You need to save your strength,” he intoned; ever the protective Knight.

“And  _you’re_  always so ungrateful,” Rinoa teased, and though it felt that perhaps the end of the world had finally come for the both of them, she could see the corners of Squall’s lips turn up into the kind of half-smile she’d come to expect.

“How do you feel?” Squall asked, steadying her so that now she could stand without his support. Nonetheless, she still took his free hand in hers, for comfort more than anything in this darkest of moments.

“Shaky, but we should keep going,” Rinoa replied. “If we can get to the First District-“

But Squall, suddenly, looked like he had an idea. Rinoa wondered what in the world it could be. She tugged his hand, but he shook his head slowly; looking back out to the streets, which were beginning to suffocate with the darkness.

It wouldn’t be long until the Heartless found their hideaway.

“Squall-“

“Do you have enough strength for one more spell,” he interrupted; casting another quick glance back to the streets.

“Probably, but we don’t have time to be-“

“One teleportation spell, from here to the First District. It’s got to be you, Rinoa.”

Rinoa paused, knowing perfectly well what he wanted her to do, and yet still struggling to understand it as well.

She shook her head, and when she went to grasp his hand tighter, he pulled his away, sheathing his gunblade, and grasping her shoulders.

“You are  _not_  staying behind,” Rinoa insisted. “Everyone  _needs_  you.”

She didn’t say  _‘more than they need me’_ , but the words still hung in the air between them, and Squall must’ve known that’s what she meant. He looked away from her, probably so he could silently curse the fact that they were both as stubborn as one another.

But, to Rinoa, it didn’t change that her words were true. Ever since these powers were transferred to her, they’d been more a curse than a blessing.

She’d only just started to just control them. But Squall was their  _leader_. Squall saved them, time after time.

When he finally looked up at her, she could see the battle raging in his fierce eyes.

He was their leader,  _yes_ , but also her Knight.

Protect the Sorceress above all else. Isn’t that what Merlin said was the duty of the Sorceress’ Knight? And Rinoa knew that, more than anything, her safety was more than an obligation to Squall.

He’d always protected her, even before her powers changed everything.

“Remember that promise we made?” Squall asked, quietly, and desperately.

Of course Rinoa did. The promise they’d made on the day he’d vowed to be her Knight; the promise that, if they were ever separated, to find one another again. Though time and space could separate them, their hearts couldn’t be torn apart, not if they had each other to return to.

“Then, I need you to remember that,” Squall continued. “I’ll lay low here, and be back in the First District as soon as I can.” He tried his best to smile, for her, and that’s when Rinoa knew how dire their situation truly was. “And then you can yell at me, forever if you want, about it.”

Rinoa wanted to argue, and she almost managed to, before Squall pulled her closer, holding her tight. She wrapped her arms around him, trying not to cry but finding that she couldn’t stop, no matter how she tried.

She couldn’t think of a way he’d be able to survive these creatures, not in his already-weakened state. She tried too, to find a way to say goodbye.

More than anything, she knew he was right.

One teleportation spell, from here to the first district.

_‘It’s got to be you.’_

She started the incantation, all the while Squall whispered all his assurances, all the promises he’d ever made to her.

Finally, when she knew it was time, she pulled back from his arms, caressed his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. How she would miss those eyes.

She closed her eyes, and on tip-toe, kissed the love of her life one last time.

By now, Rinoa found that she could no longer hold back the tears. Squall lifted a hand to wipe them from her eyes, and Rinoa clung as tightly as she could, smiling up at him as brightly as she could.

“I’m sorry, Squall,” ' she whispered.

“ _What?_ ”

His concern for her turned to confusion, as he seemed to finally realise what she’d been focusing on this entire time. Him, and safety. It was, in the end, what she wanted most.

Squall tried to stop it; reaching out, and tightening his grip on her hand, to hold onto her, but it was too late. Rinoa could only hear his anguished cry; of her name, as he was enveloped in a blinding white light.

Just like that, Squall was gone.

One minute she had been running towards the light and away from the darkness – because her destiny, and her birth right, and what she did with these powers she had been given, was her choice to make.

In the next she had made her choice, and darkness was all she could see.

**Author's Note:**

> -Not much to say on this one, folks, but if you want to give some kudos or leave a wee comment then that would be very much appreciated.
> 
> -Hopefully I will have more based in this canon very soon for you all :)


End file.
